Friday, August 11, 2006

Monty continues to qualify in for inclusion in my collection of modest sports heroes. In fact he and Joost are the only ones on the list at the moment and Joost isn't doing much that's heroic. On the other hand Panesar is credited with making a major contribution to England's success in the current cricket Test Series with Pakistan (England won the critical third test all but guaranteeing a win in the series). BBC Sport published a piece on him yesterday saying "the modest Northants southpaw was keen not to get overwhelmed by his success." {See Hero Panesar plays down plaudits.} The article quotes the "Montster" himself: "All the world-class spinners that I've spoken to all say when you get to 30-plus you reach your peak, so I will find out then ." Regarding his selection to play in the all-important Ashes Test Series with Australia this fall he said, "I was just as excited watching it on television last year because it was something very special and it would be a dream come true if I could make it into the squad and playing in Australia would be good for my development." Panesar has been made fun of for his less-than-world-class batting and fielding and failed to be picked to play one-day matches for England. The article says "in typical calm fashion, [he] was not too downhearted 'One-day cricket is definitely something I want to play but at the moment I'm just grateful to be involved in the Test arena. I'm trying not to look too far ahead, but hopefully if I can develop in other areas I can be selected in one-day cricket.'"